From ‘Abner hale’ and ‘fray Diego de Landa’ missionaries have sometimes acted in a culture-destroying manner. Do we ignore what the UFM missionaries have accomplished with the Wai Wai culture? What about the amazing feat by numerous missionary groups like The Missionary Alliance? History has proved that leaving these uncivilized people doesn’t work and that somebody needs to get there to help and guide these people into Christianity. They risk their lives to get them first because they believe that they are ‘more sympathetic agents of change than profit hungry commercialists’. These tribes cannot be completely isolated from the rest of the world. They need to communicate. The missionaries are just providing a more convincing way for them to merge and become a part in our society.
Missionaries use moral persuasions to engage with the tribes, and they know what will happen to these people when they fail to deliver the message; the government will eventually use physical force. As Don Richardson puts, the missionaries are giving the tribal ‘a rational basis for giving it up voluntarily before the guns of the police decide the issue with traumatic effect’
People say that missionaries are destroying cultures. Even though the outer appearance and act may change, influenced by outside people, the center core of a culture doesn’t change. The missionaries aren’t disregarding the values of culture and faith but they are simply refining certain aspects of a culture to make them ‘better’. The introduction of Christianity has already begun and we should now make them feel like they are part our society.
What should society do for “uncivilized cultures” like the Sawi?
1 comments Posted by choism at 7:14 PM
We are at the time of history when tribes like the Sawi can be influenced by the others. We should teach them what we value in the world and show them how we practice our faiths. Before doing this we should learn and experience the ‘uncivilized cultures’ just like what Don Richardson did. We don’t expect them to transform suddenly because we know how difficult accepting a whole new culture and I know this because I have experienced twice in my lifetime; when I went to Malaysia and Switzerland. The cultural shock I felt is incomparable to what the Sawi must have felt. It may take long for them to accept the reality and we shouldn’t doubt that there will be any changes to these people but we must have patience, faith and trust. They will slowly acknowledge and become ‘civilized’
“The advanced enforces the behind or the behind resist the advanced” We are not telling them that our culture is right and that theirs is wrong. We are not demanding for them to abandon their culture and faiths. We are not forcing them to become just like us. We just want what is the best for them because we have compassion and respect towards their culture. There may be obstacles, disrupting our guidance but our passion and patience will overcome whatever stands in front of us.
What should we do when we are confronted with other cultures?
0 comments Posted by choism at 6:42 PM
Breaking through cultural barrierThere are situations where people tend to show the positive side of their culture and conceal the side that they don’t want others to see. This makes perfect sense because people have always wanted to show the best of what they have. This is a human nature that cannot easily be altered. People only tend to embrace the outstanding fruits of human culture but we have to recognize that what we are seeing isn’t everything about it. There might be cultures that seem to show some negative sides and in the other hand there are cultures that brag about how wonderful and enticing their culture is but as a matter of a fact the one that is being honest may be the one that people are looking for. Instead of judging according to their appearance, we should try to understand and experience what other cultures value.
There are also situations where people discard the excellence of other cultures. They either feel jealous or they might be feeling the danger of the uprising power. I think it is morally wrong to deny cultures because they are simply better than us or to compete with each other over whose culture is superior. I mean, it is natural that there are conflicts when two cultures meet because it is evident throughout the course of our history that the acceptance of other cultures hasn’t been smoothed. When people are confronted with cultures that are exemplary, people should learn how to acknowledge the righteousness and strive to enhance their own.
What does God expect us to do for other cultures and faiths?
2 comments Posted by choism at 10:33 AMGod wants people to understand each other. God wants people to live peacefully, acknowledge other cultures and respect their faiths. People have to stay open-mined and embrace what other value - just like giving free hugs.
When we are confronted with ‘uncivilized’ culture like the Sawi, we shouldn’t force them to change their culture and faith but we should rather wait with patience until they have trust and respect in what we pursue. People will know that we are harmless and what we are bringing is for the best of their culture. When I first encountered Swiss culture, I felt perplexed because it was a great cultural shock for me. The reason why I became to like Swiss culture and even love it is because nobody has forced me to accept something I wasn’t ready for. Of course the transition hasn’t been perfect, having few tumbles but I slowly came to accept what they believe and what they value. People haven’t urged me to change but they waited for me with patience and that won my appeal.
It seems that the process of accepting another culture cannot go entirely peacefully. Perhaps this is God’s intention because people learn form their mistakes. People accept the virtue when they have experienced how bad evil is. A culture cannot be ideal from the beginning of the creation but there had to be adjustments to cover the flaws and to make a more ‘idealized’ culture. In our standards, there is no perfect culture; it can only get better.
How do I relate to faith? How did Don Richardon relate to Faith? How do the Sawi relate to faith?
0 comments Posted by choism at 5:26 AM
Before I continue reading the 'Peace child' I think it is necessary to know what the author himself values in this world and how he relates to faith. He is a Canadian Christian missionary who worked with indigenous tribes of Western New Guinea especially with the Sawi who were notorious for being 'cannibalistic' and 'headhunters'. Don Richardson believes that God has given evangelization to these people by some practices or understandings that he refers to as 'redemptive analogies' and he stresses that the 'spirit of god' can regenerate these people who just seem malicious and hopeless. His 'faith' that concerns about teaching the minorities how to communicate to Jesus Christ in a meaningful way is demonstrated when he and his wife risked their lives to travel a region that has the world's most violent cultures. He was exposed to many diseases such as malaria, dysentery and others but the fact that he confronted these obstacles shows how he was dedicated and convinced about changing the way the Sawi people think and how they regard about the world.
As I read the book, I am more convinced that the Sawi aren't 'ordinary' and they certainly give me a cultural shock; who would have expected that there are still some people out there in the world who eat other human beings and value treachery as an ideal? To these people, the idealization of treachery is part of their culture and they even think that it is appropriate to take advantage by 'fattening victims with friendships'. The Sawi culture is distinctive to the rest of the cultures that exist in this world, having its own world view, keeping a small 'cosmos' to themselves, worshipping their ancestors and revering their own sets of legends.
Nowadays, people are becoming modernized and I think that communication is the key to acknowledge that there are different ways in which people can approach the 'spirit of God'. I believe that we, as 'civilized people', should encourage the minorities to accept the teaching of Jesus Christ just like what the author did to the Sawi.
The thing about faith is that when you are sure about the meaning and the purpose the more unsure you become and when you think that you understand everything about it, there are new questions that challenge the validity of your faith. Many people in many generations have searched for the ultimate value of faith, and indeed many of them have reached the zenith but nobody has been able to go beyond the limit.
'Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen' -Bible
In reality, there are internal conflicts that are triggered by contrasting definitions of faiths and these were often the subject of acrimonious remarks which was a way of expressing hatred towards the others. The thing that people should realize is that there is no right or wrong answer about faith because it is just 'an act, an intention and a project'. It is something that enables you to understand about what you believe and provides a chance to understand more about yourself.
Faith is not belief. Belief is passive. Faith is active -Edith Hamilton
Now I should distinguish between the terms 'belief' and 'faith'. People who think that they have the 'right faith' may question others who are struggling to find the answer; what is difficult about finding faith? Taking the first step in faith is problematic for so many people because they often tend to see the inevitable consequence first. This makes faith magnificent because once you start to have it, you can reach the highest level of humankind. There is no reward for those who don't take actions, expecting for the Almighty to give him or her answer but there is reward who those who wait patiently for the instructions and follow with their hearts and faiths.
In some way, faith represents the total personality of a person. This may be exaggerated but in my perspective, faith represents every component of a person's life and reflects the way people think and regard about the world. People often judge other people with what they can perceive in the 'outer surface' especially connecting to faiths and they are doomed to criticize and question about the validity of different ideas and beliefs that they think are wrong. Faith also has a special power, uniting people with different opinions by the mean of communication and this is the key to accept the truth that there is no right or wrong answer to faith.
What factors of your native culture have informed your religious world view? Explain the impact of these factors?
3 comments Posted by choism at 5:50 AM
If somebody asks me 'what is your nationality?' I can answer without a glimpse of hesitation that I am a 100% Korean. People can tell from the way I think, I talk and I live that I am dominantly influenced by the Korean culture which I think is matchless to any other cultures that I have experienced in my life. I was raised in a Catholic family but my parents weren’t ‘ardent’ worshippers and I was never forced to go to the church on Sundays, to read the bible ‘thoroughly’ or to put my faith in God. This doesn’t mean that I am ignorant and indifferent towards the existence of the ‘Almighty’ but I just never had a proper chance to question my faith and religious values.
I moved to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia when I was 5 years old because of my dad's business. I was bewildered as soon as I left my 'secured zone' but there wasn’t an extreme anxiety that my parents and I expected to dwell in my mind; perhaps this was because I was too small that I didn't have the capacity to think in such a way but anyways I was intrigued to move to another place that I have never lived before. I went to my first international school in Malaysia and this was a cultural shock to me; not only because I couldn't communicate in their language but because people were treating me as an outsider because I came from a different culture. I was frustrated and infuriated about my inability to fuse into the society that according to my mother, I uttered something in English, words that I learnt in my first day of school when I was dreaming. My parents encouraged me to accompany them to go to the church and I still remember when I shouted out loud as an act of defiance. This was also a pivotal moment in my life when I realized that it's impossible to derive happiness from pessimism. As time flowed, the cultural barrier that has been preventing me to reach out to people who were ready to embrace me has collapsed and I had no troubles socializing with friends and understanding more about their cultures. Malaysia is a country with diverse religions; some Malays are of Arab descent and there are considerable Chinese and Indian communities but Islam is the largest as well as the ‘official’ religion. This would have affected my religious point of view if I had lived in the region for many years but I only lived for two years and a half and it wasn't enough for me to appreciate Malaysian culture; one of the things I regret the most.
When I moved back to my home country, I didn't have any difficulties adapting to the Korean environment because I talked fluent Korean and I was conversant with the social rules that were prevalent in a communal hierarchy. In the middle of my middle school years, my father came home to announce that our family will be leaving to Switzerland. I still remember how I responded “Dad, what do you mean my Switzerland?" I was exhilarated by the fact that I will be leaving overseas but the word 'Switzerland' sounded so unfamiliar and atypical. The only thing that came to my mind was an image of Swiss alps and Swiss chocolate. In retrospect, I have come to realization that perhaps this was another path that God has laid for me, the path that would take me to a whole new world with ultimate happiness.
One thing that was different about Korean culture and Swiss culture was that in Korea, the majority of the population is Korean but in Switzerland, due to its location, there were many different nationalities with distinctive backgrounds entangled in one society. It was awkward to suddenly see many cultures in one place but I came to acknowledge the opportunity that God has provided me to witness and experience what becomes when people share their faiths and religions. Everyone in the neighborhood kept a cordial relationship with others and there was often a correlation between people with completely dissimilar backgrounds. Even though I don't believe in a particular religion, I see many values in various religions and when I perceive that there are aspects that I agree to, I tend to follow with my heart. I think that this is what He had planned beforehand and I will incessantly attempt to find the ultimate truth about my religion.
